The invention relates to printed circuit board connections for connecting printed circuit boards provided with conductor tracks and arranged at a right angle with respect to each other.
A plug connection of this kind typically consists of a first plug connector having an isolating housing and a plug-in portion provided with contact sleeves, and a second plug connector having an isolating housing and a plug-in portion provided with contact pins, each of the plug connectors being mounted at one of the printed circuit boards.
The printed circuit board connection is preferably provided for use in a modularly formed signal processing system having a rearward printed circuit board and several insertable printed circuit boards which are to be connected with the rearward printed circuit board and which require additional electrical contacts to the rearward printed circuit board in order to cope with additional signals to be transmitted.
German Patent 198 52 290 shows an electrical plug connector for printed circuit boards, in particular for a rearward printed circuit board, wherein an adapter is inserted into a plug connector having five rows of contacts. The adapter allows to insert a female connector having three rows of contact springs.
German Patent Application 25 25 864 shows an arrangement for increasing the number of contacts of plug connectors of flat assemblies, wherein contact strips with projecting contacts are superimposed. A flexible foil provided with a filler element is inserted between the contacts. The flexible foil is provided with contact tracks which are soldered to conductor tracks on a printed circuit board.
German Utility Model 89 05 434 shows an arrangement for increasing the number of contacts of printed circuit board connectors, one of the printed circuit boards being arranged in front of a square isolating body having a plurality of contact elements. A first and a second conductor foil are provided which are associated to contact surfaces on top of and below the printed circuit board, the conductor foils being connected with first and second contact elements. Third contact elements are provided which serve for achieving a connection to the printed circuit board connector by means of rigid soldered contacts on the printed circuit board.
It is widely known to distribute electrical signals by means of printed circuit board connectors in various embodiments, the conductor tracks being suitably guided and being integrated into a bus structure on a rearward printed circuit board. Despite an increasing integration of electronical components, the number of signals to be distributed and to be processed increases. Further, increasing processing speeds are desired, which cannot be provided with a purely electrical system. Insofar, it is advantageous to use a combination of electrical and optical signals for distributing the signals. This however requires to incorporate electrooptical converters into the signal distribution system, these electro-optical converters requiring an additional electro-optical plug connection.
The invention is based on the object of improving an electrical printed circuit board connection of the type mentioned above by allowing to transmit additional electrical signals from one printed circuit board to the other printed circuit board in addition to the conventional signal connections, without the necessity of an additional plug connector.
This object is solved with a printed circuit board connection for connecting printed circuit boards provided with conductor tracks and arranged at a right angle with respect to each other. The printed circuit board connection consists of a first plug connector having an isolating housing and a plug-in portion provided with contact sleeves, and a second plug connector having an isolating housing and a plug-in portion provided with contact pins, each of the plug connectors being mounted at one of the printed circuit boards. A conductor foil is mounted at the isolating housing of the first plug connector, the conductor foil being provided with contact tracks. A first connection end of the conductor foil is held at the isolating housing of the first plug connector at a side opposite the printed circuit board at which the first plug connector is mounted, and a second connection end is held between a mounting surface of the first plug connector and the printed circuit board at which the first plug connector is mounted, the second connection end of the conductor foil being adjacent to contact pads of the conductor tracks at the printed circuit board. The isolating housing of the second plug connector is provided with an isolating holder having a slot and electrical contacts arranged within the slot, the first connection end of the conductor foil being arranged within the slot and the contact tracks of the conductor foil being contacted by the electrical contacts arranged within the slot when the first and second plug connectors are inserted into each other.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in the subclaims.
The advantages achieved with the invention are in particular that an additional plug-in portion is provided in addition to the conventional plug-in portion of the printed circuit board connectors, this additional plug-in portion serving for transmission of additional electrical signals. This allows to achieve a higher data transfer rate. Further, existing plug connections can be upgraded with the printed circuit board connection according to the invention. An additional advantage is that the second, additional plug-in portion can be inserted simultaneously with the first plug-in portion.
An additional advantage results if the conductor foil is provided with contact tracks at both of its sides, which can be used for data transmission, whereby no additional contact tracks need to be provided at the insertable printed circuit board.
The electrical signals can be transmitted directly from the conductor tracks of the printed circuit board to the contact tracks of the conductor foil with a contact means which is optimised for conductor foils, a contact element being provided for pressing the contact tracks against the conductor tracks and for the electrical contact.
It is particularly advantageous if electro-optical elements are provided in the isolating housing of the second plug-in portion, this electro-optical elements being able to be connected by means of an electrical plug-in connection, the optical characteristics of the electro-optical elements, which allow significantly higher data transmission rates as compared to a purely electrical system, can be used in an optimum manner by means of optical data transmissions.